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Massive Explosion Kills Over 200, Many More Injuredhttp://iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news.pl?l=en&y=2004&m=02&d=18&a=5February 18, 2004
Iran va Jahan
With Agencies
Paris -- At Least 200 people have been killed and at 350 injured when runaway rail wagons loaded with sulphur, petrol and fertilizer derailed and exploded in northwest Iran, the state news agency IRNA reported.

"Some of the fire fighters who went there have been burned to death," the head of disasters in Khorassan province, Vahid Barakchi, was quoted as saying.

The massive blast occurred near the town of Neyshabour, and was heard in the regional centre of Mashhad some 75km away, IRNA said.

I just turned on the tv. So far, there has been nothing on: Sky, Fox, BBC, or CNN. I sent them all this page. First the earthquake - now this! And it's coming on the heels of the 'election.'

Who knows - likely to just to be a random accident although it's always possible the train could've been sabatoged.. yah - I saw it all over CNN/World.._________________IRANIANS UNITEPERSIA LIVES ON!!FREE IRAN NOW!

Now assuming that this was an accident, let's remember that the same incompetent government that is incapable of keeping their planes in the sky and their trains on the rails is now pursuing nuclear weapons/energey ... Can anyone say Chernobyl?!!

Now assuming that this was an accident, let's remember that the same incompetent government that is incapable of keeping their planes in the sky and their trains on the rails is now pursuing nuclear weapons/energey ... Can anyone say Chernobyl?!!

About 300 people, most of them firefighters, were killed in an explosion yesterday after a train laden with petrol and industrial chemicals caught fire near the town of Neyshabur in Khorasan province of northeastern Iran.

Nearby villages were badly damaged and the blast was heard in the provincial capital, Mashad, 46 miles away.

The contents of the wagons were, in effect, a bomb: 17 tanks of sulphur, six of petrol, seven of industrial fertiliser and 10 of cotton wool combined to produce an explosive mix to rival some weapons of mass destruction.

The train was due to pass through densely populated towns, where the death toll from an explosion would have been far higher. Last night, the death toll stood at 295, according to a document prepared by local officials for the Interior Ministry and seen by Reuters.

Iranian television showed huge clouds of smoke hanging over the devastated village where the train derailed and later exploded. Some small mud houses were almost flattened and few escaped damage. Rescue workers crawled ant-like over the scorched earth against a backdrop of snow-capped mountains.

The burnt-out shells of cars smouldered streets away and debris littered the scene of the blast. Massive flames rolled up the sides of the charred wreckage of the train for hours after explosion, and the blaze was not finally extinguished until after nightfall.

The disaster began to unfold shortly before 4am when wagons became detached from a freight train near Neyshabur.

As they rolled away they collided with another train before derailing and catching fire. Emergency action was immediate, with local officials and hundreds of firefighters called to the scene of the crash and arrangements made for the evacuation of local villagers.

Eyewitnesses said the blaze was almost out when highly flammable chemical fumes ignited, sending a huge fireball into the air soon after 9.30am. Dozens of firemen, rescue workers and officials were killed instantly. Many villagers were also reported killed and others left buried in the rubble of their ruined homes. Some seismologists believe the blast was so powerful it caused their equipment to register an earth tremor felt for miles around.

But other reports say small tremors had been felt earlier on in the quake-prone area, perhaps causing the crash that led to the disaster.

The arid and sparsely populated province of Khorasan has been decapitated by the explosion: it killed the Neyshabur governor and mayor and the heads of the fire and rail services. Estimates of the number of injured range from 250 to 400, many of whom suffered horrendous chemical burns.

Neyshabur, home to the famed Persian medieval poet Omar Khayyam, lies on the main Tehran-Mashad railway line, which was cut after the explosion. Mashad, one of Shia Islam's most important centres of pilgrimage, was in a state of shock yesterday.

Ambulances rushed the injured to hospital in the provincial capital, while calls were made for blood donations from citizens. Saeed Kaviani, the editor of a local newspaper, told AP news agency: "The whole town is shocked by this accident. Official vehicles mounted with loudspeakers are roaming the city calling for volunteers to donate blood."

The city is one of the largest and wealthiest in the country but has a high rate of crime associated with the flow of drugs from Afghanistan. The disaster, striking only two days before elections which have polarised the country, is a further blow to Iran after the earthquake in December at Bam which killed more than 40,000 people.

Because of the large number of natural catastrophes in Iran, local emergency teams are regarded as some of the best in the world. But local people are becoming concerned about lax safety standards, which are blamed for exacerbating the death toll in natural disasters and leading to unnecessary man-made accidents.

Iran has the highest rate of road deaths in the world and suffers frequent plane crashes. US sanctions make it hard to obtain spare parts for its aged fleet of aircraft.

No sir, the mullahs do have the capabilites to obtain those spare parts for their "aged fleet of aircraft". The problem is that the Iranian people, their safety, and their well-being has never been a priority for the IRI.

THe problem is also that this mafia regime enjoys smuggling dangerous trains chock full of bamb making ingredients to Afghanistan and elsewhere to support attacks against progress - THE REGIME IS GOING TO BE FINISHED!!!!_________________IRANIANS UNITEPERSIA LIVES ON!!FREE IRAN NOW!

just a question about something that concerns me: if I were to travel to Iran, as I'm planning to do in 2005, would you judge it unsafe to use an Iran Air flight? I don't know if other companies go there from Italy, so far I've only found that one, but after the plane and train tragedies of the last few days I'm no longer so sure..._________________Andrea Baucero

just a question about something that concerns me: if I were to travel to Iran, as I'm planning to do in 2005, would you judge it unsafe to use an Iran Air flight? I don't know if other companies go there from Italy, so far I've only found that one, but after the plane and train tragedies of the last few days I'm no longer so sure...

The plane is safer than driving long distances by rail... Anyhow - when the regime is moved there will be a major evolutionary push in Iran and modernization and MUCH NEEDED rebuilding of infrastructure.._________________IRANIANS UNITEPERSIA LIVES ON!!FREE IRAN NOW!